Jobs shakes up Apple management over MobileMe debacle

Computerworld - Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs has given MobileMe to the executive who heads iTunes, part of a shakeup over the synchronization service's public problems since its launch last month, according to a memo sent to company employees earlier this week.

In the e-mail sent to workers on Monday, Jobs acknowledged that the launch of MobileMe "was not our finest hour," saying it "was simply not up to Apple's standards." He also noted that the service, which debuted on July 11 along with the iPhone 3G and the new App Store, needed more testing and should have been rolled out in phases.

The secretive CEO also said he had revised Apple's table of organization.

"We are taking many steps to learn from this experience so that we can grow MobileMe into a service that our customers will love," Jobs said in the e-mail, which was first reported by the technology site Ars Technica and has also been obtained by MacWorld, a Computerworld sister publication. "One step that I can share with you today is that the MobileMe team will now report to Eddy Cue, who will lead all of our internet services -- iTunes, the App Store and, starting today, MobileMe."

Cue will have the title of vice president of Internet services and will report directly to Jobs.

Previously, MobileMe had been led by Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of applications marketing, who was in charge of the service's predecessor, .Mac, as well as some of its biggest applications, including iLife, iWork and Aperture.

"That was probably the most important step, internally as well as externally -- to say, 'We screwed up,'" said Mike McGuire, a Gartner Inc. analyst.

McGuire, who closely follows Apple's media moves, particularly its iTunes online music mart, was bullish on Cue's track record. "In their postevent examination, they identified that there was at least some problems with [former leadership] at MobileMe," said McGuire. "Eddy has shown with iTunes over the years that he's very good at running a 24/7 worldwide distribution point. He's got some serious chops, and the appointment is interesting."

More intriguing, said McGuire, is the conundrum Apple will face if it's serious about ensuring that it not repeat a MobileMe-like debacle. "I think Apple may have to consider [broadly] beta testing with services 'in the cloud' like MobileMe," he said.

It may not want to, however, even though Jobs admitted that MobileMe "clearly needed more time and testing" in the internal e-mail. "For Apple, both strategically and tactically, a lot of the sizzle would get shown in a beta," noted McGuire. "That would take a certain tool out of their kit: their ability to maintain secrecy around a product launch."